Regrets
by DittyWrites
Summary: The secret is out. Harrison Wells has been discovered at the Reverse Flash and he deals with the fallout. Some surprising facts come to light when Barry confronts him.
1. Chapter 1

When Gideon told him that he was trapped in this timeline he had not reacted well. He had screamed, hurled insults at the AI, sobbed and destroyed almost everything in his hidden room. He was trapped. He was trapped in this lie forever. No hope of getting back to his time or returning to his once-comfortable existence. He had spent the next few days in a terrible mood and he had overheard Caitlin at one point trying to defend his behaviour to both Barry and Cisco, explaining that he was probably just exhausted or having a bad time.

As a result of this, Wells had begun to consider his life here in Central City. He was part of a successful crime-fighting team and he worked with three people whom he had great respect and affection for. But it was all based on lie. He knew that Barry was becoming suspicious of him and he knew that if his secret was revealed then his life here was ruined. Barry would never forgive the man who murdered his mother and Caitlin and Cisco would be unable to get over the level of betrayal which had been committed. But still, Wells let himself hope that nothing would come of their suspicions and he could simply continue to just help the younger man become a better hero.

So when Gideon alerted him to the fact that the trio had entered his secret room and discovered everything he knew he was finished. Gideon had managed to devastate him twice in the one week and he knew the AI would reveal everything to the trio. Since she was merely an AI she had no real loyalty towards him and Wells had never considered altering her programming to protect himself. Wells knew he couldn't return to STAR Labs without having a plan so he had been forced to flee.

That was three days ago. Three days he had spent holed up in this abandoned apartment as he desperately tried to work out his next move. His level of desperation and grief had grown until it consumed his entire being and he spent the last few hours just lying on an abandoned couch until he reached a decision. He was finished. He reached over and switched on what remained of the tacheon device, knowing that Cisco would be attempting to track him down by detecting it in the atmosphere.

He waited and prepared himself for what was to come.

He was able to sense Barry before he saw him. The speed force which existed within him was able to sense the much larger approaching force. Wells had never taught Barry that trick and he momentarily wondered if maybe he should have. In a few seconds, Barry burst through the apartment door and stopped in front of him. Wells looked up at him and said "Hello, Barry."

Barry snarled and punched him viciously. Wells' head snapped to the side but he made no effort to move. "Hello Dr Wells." Barry spat at him. His hand flashed again and Wells felt his lip split. "You son of bitch! YOU LIED TO US! WE TRUSTED YOU AND YOU BETRAYED US ALL!"

"I did." Wells said simply. At the confirmation, Barry was unable to help himself as growled and launched himself at Wells. The pair tumbled to the ground and Barry ended up straddling the older man as he continued to deliver punches to his face and upper torso. At one point he heard a satisfying crack from Wells' ribcage and the man gasped. This assault continued for about a minute until Barry realised that Wells wasn't fighting back or making any real effort to defend himself.

"Fight me!" Barry yelled in his face. "Fight me like man, you bastard." Wells gazed at him passively and said nothing. Fueled by an animalistic fury, Barry settled for wrapping his hands around Wells' neck as he felt a genuine need to kill or seriously hurt the older man.

"Do it." Wells whispered as his eyes shone with unshed tears of grief and pain. Through the rage in Barry's eyes, Wells was able to see a small spark of shock as he hesitated slightly.

"Maybe I will." Barry growled in a low voice. "But I want answers first. Like why?" Barry hissed in his face as his hands tightened around Wells' throat. "You owe me that much. Why did you kill my mother, Wells?"

Wells looked Barry straight in the eyes. "Because of you Barry."


	2. Chapter 2

Barry's eyes flashed in anger and growled at Wells again. "Me? What could I have done to you to deserve that?"

"You asked me to." Wells replied plainly. He watched as shock flitted across Barry's face for a moment and he felt the hands around his neck lessen slightly. He sighed a little and decided that he was finished anyway so he may as well confess all.

"We were enemies in the future, you and I. We hated each other for a long time until you finally gained enough strength to travel back in time to the night your mother died. You saved her and in doing so changed the entire timeline for the worse. Because she lived, you never became the Flash and all the good you were destined to do never happened. Thousands died in various disasters and millions more suffered." Wells paused for a second before continuing. "And then you reached out to me. You knew that the altered timeline could not be allowed to continue but you lacked the power to change anything. So you sought me out and asked me to change it back to the way it was. I refused for a long time but you persisted and in the end we became...friends of a sort. So I agree to help you. I return here, kill Nora and I found myself trapped.

By this point Barry had let go of his neck completely and was staring at him with wide eyes.

"I found myself trapped in this time since the time jump had depleted my speed force. And the only way to recharge it is to siphon some of yours so I was forced to adopt the persona of Harrison Wells, the man who would eventually make you the Flash. I killed him and stole his identity and used my future knowledge to create the Flash a bit sooner than nature intended." His voice was tinged with regret when he spoke of the original Wells. "Wells was a good man. I have all his memories and feelings and I know that you would have loved him. Everything I've done since then has been to protect you and help you grow Barry. When you were strong enough I was going to steal enough energy from you to return home."

Silence reigned for a few moments before Barry rolled off the older man, moved towards the opposite wall and sat down. Wells sat up slowly trying to not irritate any of his injuries and slid backwards until he was able to lean against the wall himself. The silence continued until Barry spoke hoarsely, "How do I know you're not lying?" His face was torn between anger and grief as he stared at the older man. "How do I know that everything you just told me wasn't all just another lie?"

"I have never lied to you Barry. I've given you half-truths and kept information yes, but I have never lied. And now I have no reason to lie. I have nothing left." Wells replied.

"So what happened to your big plan to go home then? Are you trying to tell me that you've just decided to not bother?" Barry spat.

"Can't. You met Gideon didn't you?" Barry nodded. "She informed me a week ago that I would no longer be able to travel back to my timeline as it has been permanently severed from the speed force. There is no way to fix it so I'm trapped here and as you get stronger I can still feel my own power growing and I have no purpose for it now." He laughed humourlessly. "So here I am. A failed speedster who is trapped in the past with people who hate him."

"You murdered Cisco." Barry countered. "So you obviously don't care about us."

Wells sighed deeply. He had hoped that the trio would remain unaware of the alternate timeline. He guessed that Barry had been able to remember the events since speedsters can exist outside of time. "I wish that was true as it would make this life much easier. Yes, I killed Cisco in the other timeline but if there was another option I would have taken it. He is truly amazing and I do consider him as a son of sorts. At the beginning I did use Cisco and Caitlin. They were brilliant and I knew they would help me advance the particle accelerator but I didn't account on how much they would affect me. They infected me with their kindness and good hearts. I didn't even realise myself how much I felt for the three of you until Ronnie was about to die. I sacrificed my tacheon device to save his life, even though it set me back in my goal of returning home."

Barry opened his mouth to speak but closed it again after failing to come up with anything to say. Wells continued. "When Gideon told me I was trapped, I was devastated and furious. I blamed myself, I blamed her and I blamed you." He indicated to Barry. "But I eventually settled down and realised that I could make a home here but it would depend on the three of you never discovering my secret. But I underestimated you all and now I have nothing."

Wells moved his hand up to his face to try and stem the blood flow from his nose. He felt awful, both emotionally and physically, but as he confessed his sins he did feel a sort of peace settle inside him. If Barry chose to kill them then he would still not fight him. He decided to offer the man one last piece of knowledge. "I met her you know, your mother. I met her a few times in the alternate timeline and she was truly lovely. She knew all about the timeline problems and what we were planning to do. The original plan was for you to go back and kill her until she asked me to do it instead. And I agreed because I knew that you would never be able to live with yourself if you had."

Barry swallowed and responded, "And why would you bother to accept?"

"Like I said, Barry. We did become friendly towards the end. Two men working together to save the entire world does tend to create a bond and I really did liked your mother, she was strong and willing to sacrifice herself to save us all. Plus she threatened to kick my ass if I didn't agree." Wells started coughing and was a little concerned at the amount of blood which was appearing.

Barry smiled slightly at the thought of his mother. Sighing deeply as he felt the remainder of his anger leave him, he withdrew his phone and dialled STAR Labs. "Cisco. I'm here with Wells...No i'm okay but I need you both to come and collect us...Yes him too. It's a long and complicated story Cisco please just come as quickly as possible. And bring a decent medical kit cause I think we might need it."

Wells glanced up at Barry as he listened to the call. So it seemed he wasn't destined for death today and he started to wonder what exactly they planned to do with him. The pipeline wouldn't hold him and the entire team knew that, he also knew that they hated him and that he had no chance of being free. He saw Barry watching him and decided that his only option was to wait and see. He moved his body slightly and hissed as pain shot up his side, he suspected that Barry might have broken at least one of his ribs. He grit his teeth and tried to slid his back up the wall so he could stand but he only made it about half way up when his leg collapsed from under him and he fell towards the ground.

He braced for impact and was mildly stunned when he felt Barry's hands tighten around his upper arms and prevent him from falling. He looked questioningly at him as Barry led him back over to the couch and sat him on it gently. Barry spoke quietly, "If everything you have said is true then Cisco and Caitlin deserve to hear it before we make a decision. I can't just let you fall and risk your broken rib stabbing you in the lung. I will not be a murderer but this is far from over."

For the first time since Barry had entered the room, Wells felt a small fleeting moment of hope spark inside him and as he heard the STAR Labs van skid outside the building, he was going to hold onto it for as long as he could.


End file.
